Latest News from Bosnia and Herzegovina
Hungary’s Medical Aid Reopens Bosnia’s Wounds
Amid a row in Bosnia over whether aid was being sent to the country on a selective basis, Hungary on Thursday sent a plane load of 200,000 masks and 10,000 protective suits.
Balkan Gangsters ‘Profiting From Pandemic’, Report
In Serbia, it noted, agencies set up to fight cybercrime switched to focusing on people accused of causing panic and spreading disinformation on social networks and in Viber groups.
Some crime activities have decreased as a result of the pandemic, the report points out. Migration, for example, dropped significantly towards the end of March, it says.
Week in Review: Pandemics and Politics
Going Nowhere Quickly
If the dialogue on normalising relations between Kosovo and Serbia was not complicated enough, the COVID-19 pandemic has added another layer of complexity. So has the recent vote of no confidence in the Kosovo Government.
Bosnia Urged to Probe Medics Off Sick in Pandemic
After media reported that about 700 medical workers in Bosnia had taken sick leave lately, 300 at the Sarajevo University Clinical Centre, the biggest hospital in the capital, senior doctors and politicians have called for an investigation.
Bosnia Takes First Step to Regulate Same-Sex Partnerships
Despite widespread resistance to LGBT rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina, civil society groups believe the political will is now there to regulate same-sex partnerships in one of the country's two entities.
Bosnia’s Constitutional Court to Rule on Movement Restrictions
The Constitutional Court's president, Zlatko Knezevic, told BIRN that the court is to make its ruling on April 22 on whether it is unconstitutional to bar under-18s and over-65s from leaving their homes as part of measures to tackle the coronavirus outbreak in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Athens vigilant as Turkey exerts soft power in region
Despite the end of the migrant crisis at the Evros land border last month, Greece remains vigilant and wary of Turkey's moves in the wider region.
This state has been further reinforced by the diversion of the focus of many regional players due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Bosnia’s Southern Herzegovina Region Battles Wildfires
No victims have been reported and no houses have been destroyed.
In the area north of Mostar, a wildfire that spread from the Rujiste mountain pass was put under control on Sunday overnight before it reached holiday homes in the area, Petar Juric of Mostar's fire brigade told the klix.ba news site.
Erdoğan sends UK PM letter, medical supplies
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan sent a letter on April 10 to U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson regarding medical supplies sent to help Britain cope with the coronavirus, according to Ankara's communication directorate.
As Corona spreads, Refugees Hit the End of the Road on the Balkan Route
Stray dogs walk the dirt road to the migrant camp in Velika Kladuša, Bosnia, on the border with Croatia. Passed a precarious bridge, a canine shelter is visible first. Puppies cover the trail, obstructing cars as they trot along obliviously. There are ten kennels with roofs and space to roam, but dozens of dogs lie around outside.
Third Entity Would Destroy Bosnia’s Croat Political Elite
Their real goal is maintenance of the political status quo, which allows them to stay in power, manage their patronage networks and avoid prosecution.
While most of the Croat population in Bosnia and Herzegovina would support the creation of a separate Croat entity, or even secession, the elites would lose too much to genuinely support such a policy.
Turkey delivers medical aid to UK to help fight virus
A Turkish military aircraft carrying medical aid for the fight against the novel coronavirus departed from the capital Ankara for the U.K. on April 10.
NATO acknowledges Turkish aid to Bosnia
NATO's strategic military command on April 9 acknowledged Turkey for sending aid to Bosnia and Herzegovina among other Balkan countries, saying "we are stronger together."
"Turkey provided aid to Bosnia and Herzegovina to assist in the fight against #COVID19," the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) said on Twitter.
Bosnia Authorities Argue Over Risk of COVID-19 Autopsies
Bosnia's Serb-majority entity, Republika Srpska, RS, will continue to perform autopsies of people who have died from the coronavirus, its health minister said on Thursday.
This comes after the state association of forensic pathologists said earlier that such autopsies should be stopped in the current circumstances.
Interpol Urges Arrest of Bosnian Serb War Rape Defendant
A 'red notice' has been issued by Interpol to alert countries around the world that former Territorial Defence fighter Dusan Spasojevic, who has both Serbian and Bosnian citizenship, is wanted in Bosnia and Herzegovina for war crimes against civilians.